What do you feed your Raptor?

[Joby]

two words...Food Chute. Although I don't have her freelofted in the mews, I do have her in the weathering area on a dog trolley line and I when I started throwing food out to her she started in "attack mode" every time I open the door now. Although she's on the zip line and can't reach me, it still can be a potential threat to her feathers, with her juping/flying and being jerked around. So, when I pick her up 10 days from now (she's at a hawk sitter falconer friend's house while I'm on vacation this next week in Orlando). I'm going to put a little food chute in the back of her weathering area so she won't be so agressive whenever I go in to get her.
-Joe

[tytan]

there is a 'reptile swap' about 30 minutes away from my home. at this swap people bring all the reptiles and stuff the breed, they also bring reptile food they breed!
so i can get live/frozen rats/mice/rabbits the mice/rats i can get -depending on size- from about 25-50 for 20 bucks. and the rabbits for 5 each
they also sell birds suchs as dove and i think i saw pidgeons. im not sure how much these cost though.
I figure i should be able to rotate these foods sorces and create a nice diet ontop of what is caught in the hunt or traps.

also, i was wondering how long these can stay frozen while remaining good for the bird.
I have a boa right now which i feed full grown frozen mice too, but after two or three weeks the mice seem to go bad by bleed from the mouth, developing an even more wretched smell, and she loses intrest in them.
The mice are always completely frozen and kept in the freezer. Am I going to get the same 3 week shelf life out of the frozen raptor food too? or am I maybe just freezing them too much / not enough?

[Falcon Boy]

I am not sure why your mice start bleeding after 3 weeks in teh freezer. If they are frozen they will not have any liquid, everything will freeze, meaning nothing can ooze or anything. Are you sure you dont mean refridgerated?

As for prices, it is cheaper most times to order online, than pick up @ teh show, becuase they jack the price for the shows in most cases!

[tytan]

im positive i mean freeze :-p we have a big arse freezer in my basement that i keep them in, def not a fridge, im guessing then its either they just arnt frozen enough or they defrost a lil on the ride home?

but from what ive seen this is a lot cheaper than ordering online, paying 20bucks for 25 full grown frozen mice seems pretty cheap to me. And i know shipping and handling is a killer too.

Also, keep in mind that these guys arnt from big company's, most of them dont have websites you can order off of. They are just home grown-local dealers. Which makes me question the quality sometimes, but ill worry about checking up on that once i actually have a bird.

[Falcon Boy]

Yea that is a pretty good deal on mice, but if you feed mice keep in mind a RT will eat 4+ a day.

[tytan]

well i would throw in rats / bunnys / birds and other stuff too :-p

[tito]

I Feed my partner with eel, fish, chicken heart, and snake

[oldguy]

Eel, fish, snake ? What is your partner an osprey ?

I feed a mixed meal of whole body mice, gutted rats with Provital in cavity to make up B vitamin loss, and whole quail.
I am lucky to have a gal close by who raises rats, mice and rabbits, so no shipping costs.

[birdboy92]

What part of Idaho are you in oldguy?